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Commission upholds IDA panel ruling on registrant's suspension

VANCOUVER, Jan. 3 /CNW/ - A British Columbia Securities Commission panel
upheld a ruling by the Investment Dealers Association of Canada that resulted
in a two-month suspension of a mutual fund salesperson.
On Nov. 27, 2007, a commission panel held a hearing to review an IDA
panel's decision regarding the suspension of David Michael Michaels, a mutual
fund salesperson who was working in Victoria, B.C. when he sold off-book
shares to 13 of his clients.
During the IDA staff investigation, Michaels withheld information
regarding the full number of clients who bought shares from him between August
1999 and February 2004. The IDA panel ruled his deception was not grounds for
permanent suspension.
The IDA requested a review of the panel's decision, arguing that a
two-month suspension was inadequate "to deter others from engaging in similar
misconduct and improving the overall business standards in the securities
industry." It said that standard "must be that there is zero tolerance for
deception."
The commission panel disagreed. It said the IDA's guidelines and previous
decisions do not support this position.
"They are cases involving serious misconduct, including deception, which
then go on to impose an array of sanctions to address all of the misconduct,
including significant suspensions," the commission panel said. "In our
opinion, they do not support the proposition that any deception must
necessarily invoke a permanent ban from the industry."
The B.C. Securities Commission is the independent provincial government
agency responsible for regulating trading in securities within the province.
You may view the decision on our website www.bcsc.bc.ca by typing in the
search box, David Michael Michaels or 2007 BCSECCOM 765. If you have
questions, contact Ken Gracey, Media Relations, 604-899-6577.
Learn how to avoid investment fraud at the BCSC's investor education
website: www.investright.org.